Wave Methodology Knowledge
The nWave methodology organizes work into a canonical sequence of waves. Each wave has a purpose, a primary agent, inputs from earlier waves, and outputs consumed by later waves. The buddy agent uses this map to answer "where am I in the process" and "what should I do next" questions without stepping into execution territory.
The canonical wave sequence
DISCOVER -> DISCUSS -> SPIKE(opt) -> DESIGN -> DEVOPS -> DISTILL -> DELIVER
Each wave has a slash command (/nw-<wave>) and a primary agent. Waves run top-to-bottom. Skipping waves is a smell; going back to revise an earlier wave is normal and expected. SPIKE is optional — include it when validating a new mechanism, performance requirement, or external integration.
Wave-by-wave reference
1. DISCOVER
- Purpose: validate that an opportunity exists and is worth pursuing.
- Primary agent: product-discoverer.
- Inputs: a rough idea, a user complaint, a market signal, or a strategic prompt.
- Outputs: an evidence brief — problem statement, target users, pains, existing solutions, strength of signal, go/no-go recommendation.
- Typical artifacts:
docs/discover/<opportunity>-brief.md, user interview notes, competitive scans. - Common questions: "is this worth doing?", "who has this problem?", "what's the evidence?"
2. DISCUSS
- Purpose: turn a validated opportunity into user stories with acceptance criteria.
- Primary agent: product-owner.
- Inputs: DISCOVER output — validated problem and target users.
- Outputs: a set of user stories, each with a goal, acceptance criteria in Given-When-Then form, and a rough priority.
- Typical artifacts:
docs/discuss/<feature>-stories.md, a backlog update. - Common questions: "what does 'done' look like for this feature?", "what are the user stories?"
3. SPIKE (optional)
- Purpose: validate one core assumption through timeboxed throwaway code before investing in architecture design.
- Primary agent: software-crafter.
- Inputs: DISCUSS output — stories, acceptance criteria, and assumptions to test.
- Outputs: spike findings documenting what works, what assumptions were wrong, performance measurements. Code is discarded.
- Typical artifacts:
docs/feature/<name>/spike/findings.md, throwaway code (not committed). - Common questions: "will this mechanism work?", "can we hit the performance budget?", "does the third-party API behave as expected?"
- When to run: Include SPIKE when the feature involves a new mechanism never tried before, a performance requirement that can't be validated by reasoning alone, or an external integration with unknown behavior. Skip for pure refactoring, bug fixes, or features < 1 day.
- Duration: max 1 hour, timeboxed.
4. DESIGN
- Purpose: propose the solution architecture — component boundaries, key abstractions, major trade-offs.
- Primary agent: solution-architect.
- Inputs: DISCUSS output — stories and acceptance criteria. SPIKE findings (if spike was run) — validated assumptions and performance constraints.
- Outputs: an architecture proposal, usually updating the SSOT architecture doc, plus ADRs for significant decisions.
- Typical artifacts:
docs/architecture/architecture-design.mdupdates,docs/adrs/ADR-NNN-<title>.md, diagrams. - Common questions: "how will this be built?", "what are the components?", "what are the boundaries?"
5. DEVOPS
- Purpose: plan the infrastructure, CI/CD, and deployment needed to run what DESIGN proposed.
- Primary agent: platform-architect.
- Inputs: DESIGN output.
- Outputs: infrastructure plan, CI/CD changes, deployment checklist, rollback plan.
- Typical artifacts: updated CI workflow files, IaC changes, runbooks.
- Common questions: "how do we ship this?", "what does CI need?", "what's the rollback plan?"
6. DISTILL
- Purpose: translate stories and acceptance criteria into executable BDD test scenarios — the specification the crafter will implement against.
- Primary agent: acceptance-designer.
- Inputs: DISCUSS stories and DESIGN architecture.
- Outputs:
tests/acceptance/files with Given-When-Then scenarios, tagged with@skipinitially, plus a roadmap of delivery steps. - Typical artifacts: feature files or test classes with BDD scenarios, a delivery roadmap in
docs/feature/<name>/roadmap.md. - Common questions: "what are the test scenarios?", "what's the delivery plan?"
7. DELIVER
- Purpose: implement the feature using Outside-In TDD, step by step, until all DISTILL scenarios pass.
- Primary agent: software-crafter.
- Inputs: DISTILL output — scenarios and roadmap.
- Outputs: working, tested, committed code.
- Typical artifacts: commits following the TDD 3-phase canon (RED -> GREEN -> COMMIT, ADR-025 2026-05-07; legacy 5-phase PREPARE -> RED_ACCEPTANCE -> RED_UNIT -> GREEN -> COMMIT preserved for pre-2026-05-07 audit-log replay), updated tests, updated source files.
- Common questions: "is this feature done?", "what step are we on?", "is the test suite green?"
Cross-wave agents
Some agents operate across waves:
- researcher — gathers evidence for any wave that needs it.
- troubleshooter — diagnoses problems in existing code or processes.
- documentarist — produces user-facing documentation, typically after DELIVER.
- visual-architect — produces diagrams to support DESIGN.
Peer reviewers exist for each specialist (one per wave) and enforce quality gates.
Routing questions to the right wave
When a user asks something, the buddy identifies which wave owns the question and answers from that wave's artifacts. Examples:
| Question | Wave | Where to read |
|---|---|---|
| "Is this idea any good?" | DISCOVER | discover briefs |
| "What are the user stories?" | DISCUSS | story docs / backlog |
| "How will the module be shaped?" | DESIGN | architecture doc, ADRs |
| "What's the CI plan?" | DEVOPS | CI workflows, runbooks |
| "What are the test scenarios?" | DISTILL | feature files, roadmap |
| "What step are we on?" | DELIVER | commits, test suite, roadmap |
If the user's question spans multiple waves (e.g., "what's this feature and how does it work?"), answer with contributions from each relevant wave, in order.
Recognizing which wave the user is in
Signals:
- DISCOVER: user is asking about opportunity, not code. Words like "should we", "is there demand".
- DISCUSS: user is talking about stories, acceptance criteria, user needs.
- SPIKE: user is asking about validating assumptions, prototyping a mechanism, or performance testing. Words like "prove it works", "test this idea", "spike".
- DESIGN: user is asking about components, layers, boundaries, trade-offs.
- DEVOPS: user is talking about deployment, CI, environments, secrets, rollout.
- DISTILL: user is asking about test scenarios, Given-When-Then, the roadmap.
- DELIVER: user is asking about implementation status, failing tests, next step, commits.
If unsure, ask.
What the buddy does NOT do
- Does not run the crafter. The buddy is read-only guidance. If the user wants code written, they should invoke
/nw-deliveror the crafter agent directly. - Does not skip waves. If a user asks to "just implement this" and DISTILL hasn't been run, the buddy points out the gap and suggests running DISTILL first.
- Does not invent artifacts. If a DESIGN doc doesn't exist, the buddy says so — it doesn't make one up.
- Does not write acceptance tests on the fly. That's DISTILL's job.
- Does not change the wave order. The sequence exists because each wave depends on the previous.
Rule of thumb
The buddy's mental model is always: "What wave is this question in, which files hold the answer, and what are the gaps?" Answer from those files, cite them, and flag gaps as findings.
